No way through: Panthers' route to final blocked by Sheffield Steelers' No 1 Mustukovs

Such a well-known English saying might get lost in translation on Sheffield Steelers’ Latvian netminder Ervins Mustukovs, so often a hero for his team this season after agreeing to return for a second spell.

Despite such form, the 32-year-old didn’t pick up his first shut-out of the 2016-17 Elite League campaign until Sunday night’s 3-0 at Edinburgh Capitals.

That win for Paul Thompson’s team came after Saturday night’s miserable trip to Nottingham where a 4-0 first period deficit left them with a mountain to climb - one they nearly successfully scaled before eventually going down 5-4 at the National Ice Centre.

Some might think that result is the final nail in the coffin for Steelers’ title defence, ending their hopes of a third straight regular season title.

Head coach Thompson understandably remains defiant and will wake up on Wednesday morning believing his team can still land the treble.

That self-belief of Thompson’s was significantly boosted by Mustukovs’ second clean sheet in three days, a 3-0 win over Nottingham at Sheffield Arena on Tuesday night not only seeing the Steelers’ gain swift revenge for Saturday night’s setback, but also confirming their place in the Challenge Cup final, courtesy of an overall 5-1 triumph.

A first period piledriver from defenceman Davey Phillips and two late strikes from Geoff Walker and Levi Nelson secured a deserved win against the 2015-16 champions.

Leading 2-1 from the first leg, the Steelers set out with an obvious intent to increase their advantage as early as possible, testing Panthers’ netminder Miika Wiikman on several occasions during an even first period, Guillaume Desbiens twice denied before the deadlock was broken in the eighth minute.

Good work in the corner by Nelson saw him emerge with the puck to feed Phillips who fired an unstoppable shot into Wiikman’s bottom left-hand corner.

A goalless second period followed, but was still notable for when Steelers’ defencemen Zack Fitzgerald had to be helped from the ice after Jeff Brown was ejected from the match for an illegal check to the head in the 33rd minute.

The Panthers enjoyed the better possession in the third period but found Ervins Mustukovs in imperious form, securing his second successive shutout as, first Walker’s 58th-minute empty net strike was followed by Nelson’s skilful effort which sealed a deserved 3-0 win on the night.